What they don’t teach in Indian schools

India has a rich heritage, and Education was an important aspect of that culture. Back in the ages of kings and queens, education was imparted in the Guru’s home or monastery, otherwise known as the “Gurukul.” The students stayed in the Guru’s home and learned lessons by simultaneously doing all the household chores. The students remained in the Guru’s home till the teacher was satisfied that the pupil has mastered in all the necessary skills. In Gurukuls, the teacher imparted knowledge on various aspects of the scriptures, religion, literature,philosophy the statecraft, the warfare, medicine, astrology and the history. This system is referred as the oldest and the most efficient system of education.The lessons were recorded in palm leaves or the bark of trees; the knowledge transfer was in the form of oral instructions and repetition of the same.

The current education system was introduced by the British in the 20th century, by the recommendations of Lord Macaulay. The Britishers made learning the English language a high priority, hoping it would speed up modernisation and reduce the administrative charges.After our independence, education became the responsibility of the individual states. Which eventually became the joint responsibility of Centre and State in 1976?

The modern education system emphasizes on sciences and mathematics. The theology which was an integral part of the olden school system has taken a back seat. Let us analyze the various aspects that are not thought in present day Indian schools:

1. Vedic mathematics – Vedic mathematics is mostly a set of tricks that help you do arithmetic (particularly multiplication) faster. It would be amusing for kids to learn to do complex problems easily by using Vedic mathematics. Unfortunately, this is not thought in our schools today.

2. Vedas and philosophy – The education system that we are currently practicing are the remnants of British Dynasty in India. Most of the subjects learned in school make no real sense to our life in the society. Some may argue that it helps in getting a rounded knowledge. However, Indians are blessed with immense talent and expertise naturally. Vedas and Philosophy are treasures that we Indians are blessed with; these scriptures consist of detailed instructions about how life has to be lived. Ignoring the scriptures and blindly following the west has not taken us anywhere. Our education system is still churning out engineers and accountants who linger around at the mercy of the projects of the westerners.

3. About taxes, why we pay taxes – Even though we have a subject called “ Civics “ in high school, it does not teach us about the various taxes an adult is expected to pay, what happens to the funds raised through taxes? And the various rights we as a tax payer possess. All these are essential facts that all individual must know, that is not thought in school.

4. Indian Constitution – How many of us know about what is written in the Indian Constitution? All we know is that January 26 is a holiday as it is the day on which the Indian Constitution came into existence. This ignorance is being taken as advantage by some unscrupulous entities in spoiling the decorum of our country.

5. All round development and not just academics – Present day education is more of a routine mugging up and vomiting the same in the examination. Many students would not be able to answer fundamental questions which are not covered in their syllabus, even though it might be on the topic that they have studied all through the year. This is because our schools do not encourage our kids to think, the students are discouraged from running their imagination and raising questions on a subject. This results in reduced innovation and R&D.

6. Responsibility towards society – In Japan, kids have to clean their classrooms, toilets and their lunch plates all by themselves. This develops a sense of responsibility towards the institution. Each student feels that it is his/her responsibility to keep the school clean and works towards the same, this naturally results in the formation of responsible citizens, who have knowledge of their obligation towards the society. This is absent in Indian Schools, that result in citizens, who have expectations from the society but no sense of obligation towards the same.

7. Time management – This is an essential aspect of life that is not thought in any of our so called “Modern Schools.” Even though the various subjects are taught according to a pre assigned time table. The kids are not educated to manage their time outside of their school.

8. How to handle money – Many parents have now understood the needs of teaching their wards to manage money right from a tender age. This has resulted in the pocket money culture, where the kid is encouraged to save the money given to him, and use it in future. But other than this, the schools do not touch this topic of handling money.

9. Ethics – Ethics, and Morals are slowly dying in schools, which used to be one of the compulsory subjects. The absence of values and morals will result in only zombies with no emotions rather than individuals.

10. Basic cooking – This may seem like a joke to many of the readers. But it is essential for all individual, be it a boy/girl to know basic cooking. This skill of cooking encourages consumption of fresh and healthy food instead of junk and fast foods. And it results in healthy individuals who are less dependent on modern medicines. The present student race is an ardent worshipper of “Maggie,” which has a definite harmful effect on their health.